New Beginnings
by Circe la Fay
Summary: (One-shot) Sequel to Fated. Probably a good idea to read that first.


**Disclaimer: **Not mine, as you should really be able to tell. Don't bother suing, I have nothing and I'm certainly not giving it away.

**A/N**: Interesting responses to the last chapter of Fated. The general consensus is that I'm kicking Harry when he's down. It's true. I am. And I'm enjoying it : ) . Besides, I thought it was a bit unlikely that Harry and Sally would have actually got together – they have too much history and it wouldn't have worked out. Furthermore, Harry was born to be angsty! He's a tragic hero. He's not meant to have a happy ending!

Anyway, this is a one-shot of what happened next. Reviews would be greatly appreciated, even if they are to rant about how evil I am. In fact if you review, there may be another sequel in store (you lucky people!)

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* * *

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**New Beginnings**

"Good training session, Harry," said Oliver Wood, throwing the dark-haired man a towel. Harry caught the towel, tossed it over his shoulder and headed for the showers. Oliver sat down on a bench, reminiscing.

Fresh out of Hogwarts, Harry had been inundated with offers from Quidditch teams – both in Britain and overseas. Grabbing the opportunity with both hands, Harry had signed a contract with the Montrose Magpies. By the age of nineteen, Harry was playing for England, and he had helped the team win the World Cup a few weeks after his twenty-first birthday.

Harry was a notoriously introverted person, and he tried to avoid talking to the press as much as possible; however he had recently agreed to do an interview with _Quidditch Review_. Oliver laughed, remembering a quote from the article. "They pay me shedloads of money to do something that I love doing and that is essentially a hobby. What's not to like?"

Harry emerged from the shower, hair dripping. Picking up another towel, he began to rub his head briskly, making his already untidy hair stand up even more.

"It's going to be an interesting match on Saturday," said Oliver.

"We'll thrash Bulgaria, don't you worry," said Harry, pulling on a T-shirt.

Oliver laughed. "Sometimes I think you're more bloodthirsty than I am – and that's saying something. Besides, aren't you practically related to their Seeker?"

Harry sat down to put on his socks. "No I am not practically related to him! Besides, Viktor knows that what happens in the field stays in the field."

"I doubt Hermione sees it like that, especially when he breaks a bone following you in a Wronski Feint."

"That was once…and it was really his fault…"

Oliver laughed again.

"Oh that reminds me, how's Ron?"

"He's fine. I saw him the other day actually."

"His wife is pregnant isn't she?"

Harry nodded. "Ready to pop."

"How is she?"

Harry pondered this. "Fat," he said, truthfully.

Oliver snorted.

"I'm only joking," said Harry, chuckling. "She's glowing."

As Harry picked up the towel again in another attempt to dry his hair, Ron's owl Ragmar flew in through the window, approached Harry and stuck out her leg. Putting down his towel, Harry untied the letter and read it.

"What are the odds?" said Oliver, kneeling to untie his shoes. "What does it say?"

He looked up. Harry had already disappeared.

* * *

Harry ran down the corridor and skidded to a halt in front of a young-looking receptionist. The girl turned to him and beamed.

"Welcome to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. How may I help you?"

"Whereisthematernityward?" garbled Harry, trying to get his breath back.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" said the receptionist in a saccharine voice that was already starting to annoy Harry.

"Could you please tell me where the maternity ward is?" said Harry, slower this time.

She gave him a perky smile. "Of course…wait, aren't you Harry Potter?"

_Ye gods,_ thought Harry. "Yes, yes I am. Now could you tell me…"

The receptionist squealed. "You are such an amazing Quidditch player! I LOVE the Montrose Magpies! I remember there was this rumour that you were transferring to Tornados, but I know you wouldn't because you're not like that; I said to my mum, I said 'Harry's not like that, he's way too loyal,' and it's true as well because there was this one time…"

"Maternity ward? Please?"

"Oh." The receptionist waved her hand in a vague direction. "Over there, on your right."

"Thank you," said Harry, rushing off.

The receptionist leant on her elbows humming 'There's only one team in Montrose…"

* * *

"Oh great," said Sally as Harry burst onto the maternity ward. She looked at Ron accusingly. "You couldn't have owled him when I was serene and holding a baby like a statue of the Madonna and child, instead of red-faced and dishevelled?"

"Did I miss it?" panted Harry.

"You did as a matter of fact," said Sally dryly. "We just enjoyed it so much the first time round that we decided to do it all over again."

Harry looked to Ron for an explanation for the barrage of sarcasm, but the redhead was buried in a book called _Pregnancy and the Modern Father._

Ron looked up. "Oh, hey Harry," he said distractedly. Wringing his hands, he cautiously approached Sally's bed.

"How are you feeling?" he said, nervously.

"Fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you really sure, because if you're not you should tell me. I am your life partner, and it is important that we share this most wonderful of journeys, both the good and the bad."

"I swear, if you quote from that book one more time I will burn it."

Harry laughed. "It seems that labour has done wonders for your sense of humour."

"It has, hasn't it?" said Sally, grinning. "I think that…ow, ow, owwww…"

Ron jumped about a foot in the air and rushed to grab his wife's hand. "It's ok, it's fine, it's just a contraction, it'll be over in a minute."

In Harry's opinion, Ron sounded more like he was trying to reassure himself than Sally.

As the contraction ended, Mrs Weasley entered the room. She hurried over to Sally's bedside.

"How are you, darling?" she asked, putting a hand on Sally's forehead.

_Darling?_ Thought Harry, bewildered

"It's terrible," Sally wailed. "It really, really hurts, and they're not helping!"

Molly turned to flash accusing looks at Harry and Ron. "Well don't you worry," she said, turning back to Sally, "I've done this more times than you can imagine, and I'll be here every step of the way."

Harry and Ron exchanged bewildered glances, surprised by the lack of animosity.

"Don't look like that!" said Molly, glaring at them once again, "what would you know about the pain of child birth?"

She sat down next to Sally's bed.

"Now it's going to take a while, because it's your first. I was in labour for seventeen hours with Bill."

Sally looked horrified.

"But the good news," continued Molly "is that it gets easier. The twins were a hassle (well, when are they not a hassle), but Ron I just popped out like a cherry stone."

It was Ron's turn to look horrified. "That's a lovely image you conjured up for me there, Mum," he said, disgusted.

Sally shook her head emphatically. "I am never doing this again," she said resolutely.

Molly merely smiled. "We all say that. I said that – each and every time."

Sally grimaced.

Ginny was the next Weasley to arrive at the hospital, followed hot on the heels by Sally's parents. The gender divide became obvious as the men stood in one corner of the room while the women clucked and fussed around the bed.

A matronly Healer entered the room and looked disapprovingly at the slowly increasing crowd.

"Right," she said, reminding Harry very much of Madam Pomfrey, "too many people in here! This girl needs rest!" Turning to Sally, she gave her a sugary smile. "Who do you want to stay with you?"

Sally stretched her arms out. "Mummy," she wailed.

Susan rushed to her daughter. "I'm here darling."

"Molly!"

Molly took her post at the other side of Sally's bed and patted her hand.

"Oh, and Ron," added Sally as an afterthought.

Everyone else traipsed out into the waiting area, Harry laughing at Ron who looked particularly affronted.

* * *

Within the hour, the most of the Weasley clan had arrived; Bill and his wife Fleur, Fred and his fiancée Catherine, and George. Charlie was unfortunately still in Romania, but he had sent his best wishes.

Once Hermione got there, the true waiting process began.

"Okay, ten words. Fourth word. Um…stir? Soup? Big soup? Lots of soup?"

"Fondue? Melted cheese? Melted chocolate?"

"Chocolate covered ant!"

Harry stopped miming and looked at Fred incredulously.

"Well it might have been," said Fred, sheepishly.

Rolling his eyes, Harry held up two fingers.

"Second word. Tiptoe. Oh you're grabbing something! Um, Snitch? Quidditch?"

"Pluck?"

"Fishing? Flying fish?"

Harry stopped again. "Flying fish?"

It was now Ginny's turn to look embarrassed. "Well what was it then?"

"_You Stole My Cauldron but you Can't Have my Heart_. You know, that Celestina Warbeck song."

Everyone groaned. "Harry, that was terrible," said George, laughing.

"How long has it been?" asked Bill.

Neil looked at his watch. "Five and a half hours."

"Do we know if anything is happening?"

"Doubt it," said Arthur. "These things take time. Trust me, I would know. I've been present at the births of six sons, one daughter, two grandchildren and a nephew."

"And yet you can't come up with anything better to do than playing charades?"

Before Arthur could answer, Sally was wheeled out on a bed, panting heavily. Ron, white-faced, was running beside her, one hand holding hers and the other on her shoulder. Molly sped over to those anxiously waiting for news.

"They're taking her down to the delivery room," she said hurriedly. "We'll come back and tell you if anything happens."

Everyone sat down. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Harry looked down the long corridor. Suddenly, he saw a figure that he thought he recognised. Sitting up and rubbing his eyes, he looked again. The figure was coming closer.

_No, it can't be. That's impossible. _

'Percy?'

The figure stopped moving. Looking around, Harry got up and walked towards him.

Percy flinched involuntarily, clearly unsure what Harry was going to do. "Er, hello," he said tentatively.

Harry stared at him in complete disbelief. "Percy," he said once again, as if trying to familiarise himself with the idea. "What are you doing here?"

Still wary, the redhead shrugged slightly. "I…I'm not completely sure," he said.

Before Harry could say anything else, Ron burst into the waiting area looking tired but ecstatic.

"It's a girl!"

There was a collective shout of elation, and everyone jumped to their feet. Ron was hugged from all sides and barraged with questions.

"She's perfect," said Ron, grinning widely. "She has ten little fingers and ten little toes and a tiny little nose and…"

"Is it another carrot top?" asked Fred. Everyone laughed.

Ron shook his head. "Her hair's light brown at the moment, but it will probably get darker."

"When can we see her?" asked Ginny.

"In a bit. Sal's exhausted and they're both having a nap. I'd better go; I want to be there when they wake up."

As Ron left, everyone sat down. Motioning to Percy to stay where he was, Harry rejoined the group.

"Where have you been?" asked Charlie. "Did you hear? The baby's a girl."

Harry nodded, still thinking about Percy standing in the hallway.

"A female Weasley. I thought that was impossible," said Bill.

"What does that make me then?" asked Ginny indignantly.

"A genetic mutation."

As everyone laughed, Percy emerged from the shadows.

There was a shocked silence.

After the battle at the Ministry of Magic and the subsequent defeat of Voldemort, the question of Percy's place in the family had been raised several times. Although Molly in particular had been ready to welcome back her son, the opinion of the younger generation was that he should ask for forgiveness rather than be approached. Little by little, all contact had ceased, and 'the Percy problem' had been something of a taboo topic for some years.

Arthur stood up. Slowly he walked towards his son.

Percy took a deep breath. "I would like to apologise," he said. "I was wrong, and I said and did things that I am deeply ashamed of. I'm not sure why I took so long to admit it, but I would just like you to know that I'm sorry."

Arthur said nothing.

"I understand if you want me to leave," said Percy.

"You're damn right we want you to leave," said Fred, standing up. Bill got his feet as well, ready to hold Fred back. "We are not letting you ruin this day for Ron, you…"

Arthur raised his hand to silence his son. He turned to Percy and nodded slowly. Stepping forward, he embraced the young man tightly.

"Welcome back," he murmured.

* * *

It was decided that Harry should break the news of Percy's return to Ron, as Arthur had decided to tell Molly. Standing outside the room where Sally lay asleep, Harry tried to plan his wording. Already emotionally charged, Ron would probably collapse if he was told in the wrong way.

Harry entered the room quietly. Ron was standing over the incubator containing his baby daughter, watching her sleep.

The redhead turned and smiled tiredly at his best friend.

"Hey," he said.

"Percy's back," replied Harry.

He mentally smacked himself in the head. _Great one Potter,_ he thought. _Really eloquent. Oh, so you can use words like eloquent, but not come up with anything better than 'Percy's back'?"_

Ron looked at him, stunned. "What did you say?"

Harry wrung his hands. "Um…yeah, Percy is back. He came back a little while ago. He was really apologetic, apologised to the whole family. He's sitting in the waiting area."

Ron shook his head, trying to process the information. "So you're saying…so he…then he…wait, how did he know?"

"What?"

"How did he know that Sally had gone into labour? How did he know that we would be here?"

"I owled him," said a voice from the bed.

The two men turned round. Sally was awake.

"You owled him?" asked Ron, disbelievingly.

"I thought that our child shouldn't be born into a family that already had a rift, so I tried to help."

"So you're saying that as you went into labour you thought 'Oh, you know what, I'll sit down and write a letter to my husband's estranged brother, just in case he wants to come to the hospital and coo'?"

"Well actually, I wrote the letter a while ago. By the time I went into labour all I had to do was send it."

"You didn't ask me."

"It worked though, didn't it?"

Ron opened and closed his mouth a few times, unable to quite articulate what he was trying to say. After a few seconds, he sighed resignedly.

"This is one of those arguments I'm going to lose, isn't it."

Sally nodded, smiling.

"Well, I'll deal with Percy later. It's just too much to think about right now. Wait!" he exclaimed, rushing to his wife's side. "Should you be sitting up? Lie down!"

"Ron, I'm fine," she said, chuckling.

"Are you sure? You just gave birth! You should rest!"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Are you certain?"

"I'm certain."

"Are you…"

"Ron," said Sally, interrupting the spiel, "isn't there someone you want to introduce to Harry?"

"No…"

"Our daughter?"

"Oh, right, yeah!"

Ron lifted the small pink bundle out of the incubator and placed her in Harry's arms.

"Harry James Potter, meet Emily Charlotte Weasley."

The baby stirred. Opening her eyes for just a second, she looked at Harry and then reaching up grabbed a lock of his hair in her tiny fist.

"I think she likes her godfather," said Sally.

Harry looked up, surprised. "Godfather?"

Ron nodded. "Of course mate. We wouldn't want anyone else."

Harry looked back at Emily. Taking a lungful of air, she began to wail. Harry grinned.

"I think it might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

* * *


End file.
